One Day
by kzlovers
Summary: Ratchet observes recent events and his deeper emotions after having Clank back into his life after his disappearance at the Great Clock.


A fanfic for ratchetxclankforever on deviantart. I hope you enjoy!

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time fanfic

Genre: friendship, hints of romance, some humor

Warnings: Male slash, the rating is T

Pairing: Ratchet/Clank

Summary: Ratchet observes recent events and his deeper emotions after having Clank back into his life after his disappearance at the Great Clock.

Hope you all enjoy!

One Day

Ratchet sat on the couch as he watched television of Secret Agent Clank. He despised the show, but knew his best friend liked it, so was willing to watch it. He had been unusually quiet, considering that he was pretty obnoxious a lot of times. He would never admit to that but figured it was most likely true.

This situation seemed different than most, so he sat in silence as he watched his best friend on the television screen blocking shots being taken at him with a golden platter that easily reflected the electric bullets. Clank's love for acting and being in this show was something Ratchet may never understand but he was alright with that. Of course, he may have liked it better if he had not been viewed as the butler 'sidekick'. That always rubbed him the wrong way whenever anyone referred to him as such. He would not want to be the main character himself, but he would have preferred to be viewed as an equal than someone placed below his robot friend.

Emerald eyes glanced over as he then observed his friend who as completely absorbed into the television show so was too distracted to notice he was being watched. Clank had gone missing for a long time. Not knowing where he was had caused Ratchet to go into a panic. Yes, he had known who has taken his best friend, but that did not do much in helping him find Clank. For what felt like years he searched. Everywhere he could think of, he went to look for his best friend.

During the search was when he met Alister Azimuth. They got along well, and he was able to find Clank thanks to him, but it did not matter how close they seemed, for Alister deemed his mistake greater than anything and ended up dying when realizing his mistake of trying to fix the past and then prevented the ultimate destruction.

Time had passed since Clank and Ratchet were reunited. Months even and they were even able to spend that day, Christmas day with one another. It had been a wonderful Christmas. Ratchet had found parts of the DVD set for Secret Agent Clank that his robot friend did not have so he gave him that. Though clank enjoyed the job when he had, the movie producers and directors were cheapskates so Clank had to buy DVD's of his own show. That was ridiculous, but he never complained.

Ratchet had received a case. It was custom made so it could fit Ratchet's wrench if he ever wanted to put it away somewhere nicer than on a random table in the apartment. It was one of the nicest gifts Ratchet had received in a long time and was extremely grateful for it. He could not help but have the biggest smile on his face from the present and Clank in turn smiled back.

They now sat as they continued to watch the show, though Ratchet's eyes looked over at his friend again. Though he was back and everything was normal again, Ratchet felt an annoyance that he could not simply ignore. With Clank being gone for so long, he felt this unnatural fear that something would happen to him again and he would one day get whisked away to the Great Clock once more only to find that Ratchet may be unable to save his friend such as last time.

Ratchet knew that was stupid, for Clank found out where he came from. He found who his creator was and where he would one day belong. He could have stayed after the battle at the Great Clock. It had been a surprise when Clank has decided to return with Ratchet, but the Lombax knew that one day Clank would return to the Great Clock, and would never return to his life here with Ratchet.

This caused a sharp pain to sting at Ratchet's heart. He cared deeply for his best friend. They had been through many adventures together and many good times as well as hardships. Just as long as Ratchet was with Clank, he always felt like everything would be okay.

Currently, the robot's eyes were lit up brightly, and that's not just because they glow in the dark, but because of the enthusiasm he clearly was feeling towards this show. Knowing every thought and emotion Clank went through while working on each episode brought back great memories for the robot as well as how he prepared himself for each moment the show presented him in. It was kind of amusing to watch, but also adorable too as some might say.

That was another problem that Ratchet was currently dealing with since the disappearance of Clank. As he thought of his feelings, his heart warmed, yet stung at the same time. It really was an interesting combination. Ratchet felt stronger feelings than most would in friendship, and more than he should probably feel in general.

Every time they were together, Ratchet felt a happiness that he had been unable to first explain. When he dated other women, he could never fully focus on them. His thoughts were clouded by other things that he never wished to go into depth on. That was why his relationships never lasted. When Clank had been hit on by Courtney Gears and other female robots, though Clank seemed to enjoy the attention, the Lombax could not help but feel a bubble of rage form in the pit of his stomach that he had a harder time controlling than some of his other emotions.

Despite this, he still did not completely realize what he had been experiencing. He had never felt anything like it before. It was not until Clank went missing that Ratchet realized what he had been feeling. It was not just a strong sense of protection of his friend, missing him greatly, or just being extremely happy to be around him, though all of these were true. He felt more than just what those words described. He felt love. He felt a love stronger than he had ever experienced with the father figure that Alister had become in the short amount of time they spent together, or the effectuation he felt towards any of his girlfriends he had been with in the past. No, this was much more than that.

Realizing how late he had noticed his feelings, he then knew he had to find Clank at all costs. He would have continued to search if he had never felt anything, but that sudden fear of Clank never knowing what he felt terrified the Lombax to his very inner core, and knew, that was something he could not live with.

After finding Clank, Ratchet had mentally rejoiced that Clank had been alright. When he had thought that clank was going to stay at the Great Clock, the Lombax had debated on whether to admit to his feelings before his departure. He knew he should have, but some invisible force prevented him from doing so, and that invisible force had been fear, fear of rejection and hate. Ratchet was not sure if could have dealt with that after not seeing his friend in so long, so he decided to leave on good terms and live with knowing he would regret his decision for the rest of his life.

A pleasant surprise had been when Clank jumped into his ship at the last second to join Ratchet once again on whatever adventure may await them. A smile had formed on Ratchet's lips before they blasted off into space. That had been one of the best days he had had in a long time.

Now here they sat, as if nothing happened. As if Clank had not gone missing or that Ratchet spent a long time searching while trying his best to deal with the pain of imagining the fear of perhaps never seeing his friend again. They sat as if Clank had not made the huge decision to stay with Ratchet a while longer for reason that the Lombax was not even sure of, yet decided to never question it. Here they sat as if they were they greatest of friends in the world where nothing would break them apart.

Ratchet knew that was not true. If Clank ever knew, he was sure his friend would immediately return to the Great Clock to stay. He knew his friends would never hate him for these feelings, but would do his best to have time apart so they could both assess the situation in the best manner possible before seeing one another again. This cut Ratchet's heart like a knife.

However, despite knowing that his best friend most likely did not share his feelings, he knew that one day he would tell him. Ratchet debated when several times in his head. He thought of telling him whenever he decided to leave for the Great Clock to stay, because then they would get that time apart and would hopefully be able to fix things that way. Ratchet feared that he may just disappear one day like before instead of Ratchet actually having the chance to say farewell to his robot friend and admit what he hid. He also thought of setting up something special before telling Clank, so that at least if Clank said no, then Ratchet would have a nice setup to hang out at for a while, but the small chance that Clank did say yes, then he would appreciate the décor.

"Are you alright Ratchet?" Clank asked, breaking whatever thought process he had been that was unknown to the tiny white robot. "The episode is over and I was hoping to look at the episode guide to see what to watch next but you have the remote."

"Oh!" Ratchet exclaimed as he hastily grabbed the small black device before handing it to his friend. "Here you go."

Clank turned to the television as he pressed menu and then traveled to the episode selection guide. Though both eyes were glued on the TV, both were immersed in thought.

"…Are you alright Ratchet?"

The question caught the Lombax a bit off-guard but he quickly recovered with his signature smile. "Course I am. Just watching TV with my best friend."

This seemed to bring a small smile to the robot's face. "Thank you for watching this with me. I know this is not your favorite show but I am happy that you still chose to watch it with me."

"Of course. I would do anything for you Clank."

Though this was not an odd thing for the Lombax to say, Clank had yet to understand just how far those words went; how deep they were.

'One day,' Ratchet thought to himself, 'One day I will tell you how I feel, and who knows, maybe you will give me the chance to show you the love that you truly deserve.'

Ratchet then smiled as he watched the beginning credits to the next episode to Secret Agent Clank while sitting next to his best friend Clank.

*This is a late request for for ratchetxclankforever on deviantart. I'm sorry I took so long to write this. I hope you enjoy it though!


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